One feature of Star Trek not often noted is how effective Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott was when he got out of Engineering and, as third in command, was in charge of the Enterprise. Decisive, while not taking any chances with the ship, he was formidable as the man in charge. Of course James Doohan had been an officer, and something of a wild man, in the Canadian army during World War II. He brought realism to the role when he was the Skipper of the Enterprise, and it is a pity we didn’t see him in command more often.
O. Canada. How far you have fallen.
The casting of Simon Pegg, a light-weight, self-effacing comic actor in the rebooted films, and the subsequent treatment of Scotty’s character as mere goofy comic relief was a travesty.
No ship goes anywhere without Engineering. When my old submarine collided with a Turkish freighter at night while surfaced and pulling out of Norfolk, VA, for a North Atlantic patrol. The hull was dented inwards right by the reactor scram breaker panel. Scared the living $h1t out of me. I was the on-watch reactor technician. Guess where our Engineering Officer was. With us in Engineering, and the watertight hatch was shut. That’s what Scotty typified.
LQC-
I’m guessing this was the Jacksonville in this article.
Interesting how the Navy passed it off as cosmetic damage! I guess in the 80s we were still trying to convince Ivan that all was well even when it wasn’t.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.upi.com/amp/Archives/1982/03/23/Nuclear-sub-collides-with-Turkish-ship/3159385707600/
Exactly right, Bruised Optimist. My old boat! God saved us from what would have been a terrible death.
One of the things I loved about The Hunt for Red October was the way everyone was competent.
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